this morning on "early today," the fbi stopped a would be terrorist from blowing up the new york federal reserve. binders, jobs, and america's future. reaction to the presidential debate. >> i thought he did a good job last night. i thought we had a second debate where, you know, governor romney wouldn't even commit to tell us anything about the details of the budget. that ought to tell people all they need to know. dropped like a rock. lance armstrong was sacked by almost every company he represented. a devastating day for the once represented. a devastating day for the once heralded athlete. captions paid for by nbc-universal television

good morning. i'm lynn berry. well, a 21-year-old man from bangladesh is being held this morning on charges of plotting to blow up the new york city headquarters of the federal reserve. prosecutors say he was inspired by osama bin laden and that he tried to recruit others from across the country not realizing those were undercover agents. >> reporter: this is the face of suspected bomber quazi muhammad nafis. this was his target, the federal reserve bank. he parked a van packed with what he thought was a thousand pounds of explosives trying to kill hundreds of thousands of new yorkers during the morning rush. >> he had the intent of creating mayhem here. >> it was a sting operation and nafis was under investigation for months. the undercovers even provided some of the fake bomb parts. but they say it was nafis who

picked his target, helped build the bomb, and they only got on to him after he approached an informant about wanting to carry out a major attack. targeting america's economy is the most efficient way to draw the path of obliteration of america. his initial plot was supposed to be a suicide mission to bomb the new york stock exchange but tight security there had him change his target to the new york fed. last week investigators said he bought ammonium nitrate not knowing he was being watched each step of the way. nafis was living in jamaica queens and the fbi raided his apartment. he came to the u.s. in january from bangladesh. the suspect was here on a student visa. we have also learned a man believed to be a co-con spiritor was arrested in san diego on wednesday on unrelated charges. to politics, the candidates and their running mates wasted

no time firing back on some of the fiery rhetoric. one of the hottest topics, women. >> when governor romney's asked a direct question about equal pay he started talking about binders. oh, the idea he had to go and ask where a qualified woman was, he should have come to my house. he didn't need a binder. >> i've got to tell you, we don't have to collect a bun of of binders to find a bunch of qualified women. >> this president has failed women. they've suffered in terms of getting jobs, they've suffered in terms of falling into poverty. >> the president and governor romney also traded jabs on one another's future plans. >> governor romney says he has a plan to create 12 million new jobs in the next four years. the washington post called it a bait and switch. >> i think it's interesting that the president still doesn't have an agenda for a second term.

i mean, he's got to come up with that over this weekend because there's only one debate left on monday. >> as predicted, it looks like this will, in fact, be the first billion dollar election. president obama's team has spent $352 million on ads so far while romney and his supporters have shelled out $455 million. that's a total of $807 million spent on television and radio ads with still 19 days left before the election. more than half of that money has been spent in the three battleground states of florida, ohio, and virginia. cycling legend lance armstrong has stepped down as chairman of his cancer fighting foundation, live strong. that's a week after he became a

championship. they used armstrong as a pitch man and severed ties with him in quick succession. we'll have more on armstrong coming up in sports. first, 40 years after it was first conceived, a memorial to the nation's 32nd president, franklin d. roosevelt became a reality yesterday in new york city. former president bill clinton was on hand along with new york leaders and nbc's tomorrow brokaw. the monument honored the four freedoms speech fdr gave prior to world war ii, words that would become part of the united nation's charter. mr. clinton says those words are worth pursuing. we're going to begin with a car caught on tape. the driver is nearly crushed at a philadelphia gas station when a car thief hopped inside the vehicle. the 61-year-old put up a struggle but lost his grip after

being dragged several feet. the car was found a few blocks away. no arrests were made. take a look at this shocking video captured on the streets of new york city last april. a taxi driver tossed a passenger out of his cab and then drove off with the car door still open after the man jumped back in. the driver apparently became upset when the allegedly drunken man vomited inside the cab. the taxi commission revoked the cabby's license. now to the rockies where colorado skiers kicked off ski season there. the resort is traditionally one of the first in the nation to open their slopes. colorado resorts are hoping to rebourchd from last season's drab winter. finally, artistic undergarments are now being used to fight against breast cancer. look at those. getting creative. an elaborate array of unique bras are set to hit the auction block. the unique designs will be sold next month for breast cancer

awareness. now for a look at your national weather, here's meteorologist bill karins. he has your forecast. overnight the severe storms rolled throughout the deep south. a lot of people are without power. mississippi without power and they're the hardest hit. the worst of it from yahoo city. still waiting to get the pictures out of the area. of course, it's dark there. as the sun comes up we'll see how bad it was. three homes significantly damaged. no reports yet. in all, severe weather reports about 74. i notice a lot of wind reports near st. louis. the severe storms did have affects on the baseball games, both in detroit and st. louis. that line of storms is now pushing through into the southeast. very windy conditions behin it. there was damaging winds through the dakotas yesterday too. now the big, huge storm is going to sit here and spin. it's a very slow-moving storm. the cold front itself is moving pretty rapidly. the storm did that the worst of the damage was up here by yahoo

city south of meridian. now it's north of jacksonville, mississippi. it's not as strong and severe as it was. a lot of lightening with that storm too. for today we are going to see the storms passing into the southeast. atlanta, charlotte, rain likely in the ohio valley. back here through the great lake. numerous areas of rain, cloudy, cool, damp weather conditions. finally it will make it to the east coast. that's a look at the national forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. areas like raleigh, north carolina, pittsburgh, most of the locations will see an hour or two of wet weather as it moves through. the front is progressing through the south. up in the great lakes though and northern plains it's going to linger all day. we went from nice and warm earlier this week to today in chicago to minneapolis a chill in the air gentleman bill, thanks so much. well, a cancer fighter that is probably already in your cabinet.

the top tourist destination here in america. have you been there yet? plus, the good news for the economy. stocks and the housing market, things are looking up. you're watching "early today." >> announcer: brought to you by the makers of centrum men and women. have you taken the most complete multi-vitamin today?

i'm lynn berry. right now the search is on for whoever killed five people inside a bar in denver and then set the bar on fire. among the victims, four women including one of the bar's owners, a 63-year-old. police think the fire was set to try and destroy evidence. they have not identified a suspect. the family of george mcgovern says the former presidential candidate is, quote, no longer responsive in hospice care. earlier this week mcgovern's daughter said the 90-year-old was nearing the end of his life. it's not exactly the perfect graduation gift. a new report finds 2/3 of the class of 2011 finished college already owing an average of

$26,000 of student loans. that's about 5%. pop quiz time. can you name the world's top tourist destination? no, it's not florence, italy. that came in third. cape town, south africa did very well. but still only reached number two. the winner? ah, right here at home. charleston, south carolina. it also earned bragging rights for the second year in a row as the top city in the u.s. it is a spectacular city. a new study shows that taking a daily vitamin might reduce a man's risk of getting cancer. middle aged men who took vitamins for a decade had cut their cancer rate by 8%. low doses of a wide range of vitamins might be better than loading up on one. multi-vitamins have no side effects while high dose supplements can be harmful. hers here's a look at how wall street kicked off. the dow closed 13,557.

the s&p was up 6. the nasdaq ganld 3. in tokyo, the nikkei surged 176 points while in hong kong the hang seng climbed 102. wednesday's good news here at home had ripple effects overseas. asian shares hit a seven-month high after a slew of signs that china's economy is improving followed positive upbeat housing data. september home construction soared 15% over august driving up home builders and suppliers like home depot and lowe's. it wasn't all good, ibm's lackluster earnings were a drag on the dow. bank of america reported its profit plunged. american express matched third quarter expectations. it was a milestone for lockheed martin yesterday. the supersonic f-35 test dropped a 2,000 pound bomb over the

mohave desert. a judge ruled d.c. comics can retain the rights to sup irman saying the heirs of one of the co-creators signed the rights away 20 years ago. it's not even halloween but target is already ramping up holiday ads and deals like online price matching and digital in store shopping. finally, celebrity chef rachel ray is cashing in on a food truck craze for a good cause, animals. her new dog food truck will have chicken mutt balls and chicken pau pie. coming up, mother nature keeps the yanks alive and lance armstrong's world comes crashing down, plus the world's oldest profession helps out the world's most popular sport. sports are straight ahead. i'll have an update on the severe weather rolling through the south.

you're watching "early today."

good morning. in sports, lance armstrong's financial empire has come crashing down. on the same day armstrong stepped down as chairman of his cancer fighting foundation, live strong, nike along with several other companies have terminated their endorsement deals with the

cyclist. they include anheuser-busch, sports drink producer frs, energy food marketer honey stinger, radio shack and the maker of giro helmets. they will continue to support the live strong foundation. there is one company, oakley, they have put armstrong's status under review. let's head over to baseball's national league playoff. st. louis's matt carpenter hit a two run homer and the cards weathered a 3 1/2 hour weather delay to beat the giants taking a one game series lead. to detroit where the yanks and tigers were rained out. game four will be played this afternoon. finally, you couldn't think of anything better than this. players on a cash strapped soccer team are wearing a pink shirt with villa erotica. these are two brothels that it recruited as sponsors after government spending cuts left the sporting club facing

financial ruin. at least they're pink. league organizers have banned the jerseys during game and it's inappropriate for underage supporters. >> announcer: early today sports is brought to you by new just for men auto stop. gray is over. just ahead, who knocked charlie sheen off his perch and the latest celebrity star baby name. this one is a mouthful. plus, decadence in dallas. if you are a chocolate lover, you're going to want to see this. you're watching "early today." o

. welcome back to "early today." our big storm that's causing all the havoc in the northern plains is going to continue to be a big wind maker today. cloudy, raw and damp all through the dakotas, minnesota, wisconsin. the storms passing through the southeast have weakened since earlier this evening. we will see the storms regenerating later today heading for the carolinas. late tonight we could see storms in virginia and areas of north carolina. we'll watch that. the story for friday, it could be a really difficult travel morning in new england especially. heavy rain expected. philadelphia, new york city especially up into connecticut. so tomorrow morning at this time we're going to be talking about some serious travel issues. that looks like no fun. bill, thanks so much. now for a little fun, entertainment news. flavor flaf, the wrapper, was arrested in las vegas yesterday.

threatened to stab him with a knife. ashton kuch jerp tops forbes list of highest paid tv actors with an estimated 24 million bucks. well, last year the man he replaced in the series, charlie sheen, was in the top spot with 40 million. bet he's regretding that. rounding out the top five, hue laurie, ray romano. transformers actress is announcing she gave birth to a baby boy. know a shannon green. she and brian austin green married in june of last year. meanwhile uma thurman revealed that her baby daughter's name is a long one. instead of bush schering it, we're going to show it to you. this is not -- we're not making this up. i know. she gave birth to the baby girl in july. here's the weird part. they're going to call her luna.

>> or raaaft. >> talk about a life of complication. this poor girl. can you imagine going through tsa. >> can you imagine filling out your s.a.t. >> you need seven pencils. this comes to us from kxas, nbc 5 in dallas, texas. chocolate lovers got to sink their teeth into chocolate treats. gir ra deli is crowning the best chocolate dish at where else, the texas state fair. judges had a tough time choosing a winner. in the end it was a mix of chock lit and a signature mexican dish that took top prize. this year's winner, brilliant, the chocolate taco. why didn't i think of this? i'm lynn berry. this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

this woman -- morning a woman is fighting for her life. baltimore road was closed for five hours so police could gather evidence. it is back open now. and police are still searching

for the driver responsible for a five-car pile-up in silver spring. chopper 4 above the scene there. this is on university boulevard near east wayne avenue about 9:00. a pedestrian was hit. she is in critical condition at the hospital now. we're told a second person was hurt as well but should be okay. police are now looking for a newer model black pickup truck with possible damage to the front passenger side. today, emergency management officials want to make sure you are prepared for an earthquake. d.c., maryland, and virginia are taking part in the first ever great d.c. shakeout. it takes place at 10:18 this morning. rescuers recommend you remember to drop, cover, and hold on. first drop to the ground, take cover under a sturdy desk while protecting your head and neck, and hold on until the shaking stops. are you going lead us in the drill? >> if need be, i will show you how to crawl under your